Ham Hock and Pea Salad with Mustard Dressing

The first proper peas of the year arrived at the market last Saturday, still in the pod, slightly dusty, the kind you eat half of before they reach the kitchen. I knew what they were for before I'd paid for them.

A ham hock is a slow thing. You put it in a pot of water in the morning and forget about it for three hours, and when you come back the kitchen smells like a pub on a good day, smoky and savoury and promising. The meat falls from the bone in soft, ragged shreds. It doesn't ask for much. Peas. Some watercress for bite. A dressing with enough mustard to make your eyes water. That's the salad.

This is a late spring dish, the point in the year when you want something that still has substance but doesn't weigh you down. The ham does the heavy lifting. The peas bring sweetness. The watercress brings pepper. The dressing ties it all together with a sharpness that keeps you reaching back in. I wrote it down in the notebook last year: ham hock, peas, mustard, Saturday. Friends came. The bowl was empty before anyone asked for the recipe.

It's a good thing to put in front of people. Generous and unpretentious, the kind of plate where everyonehelps themselves and the conversation doesn't stop. We're only making dinner. But sometimes dinner is the best part of the evening.